A Real Life Dream
by X3
Summary: Fourth in the Love Letters Series. John and Marie, in the same place, both conscious.
1. Chapter 1

Title:  A Real Life Dream

By: X

X0832001@yahoo.com

PG-13

Disclaimer:  I own nothing, I am getting no money

Summary:  Fourth in the Love Letters Series.  John and Marie, in the same place, both conscious.

A/N:  "Friendship's Sacrifice" begot "One of Those Dreams" begot "Some Friends Aren't Friends" begot "A Real Life Dream" will beget "Shiny, Happy Morning" who shall be the end of the Love Letters lineage.

            John sat up in his bed writing furiously in a simple spiral bound notebook that Mystique had brought him.  The thoughts poured from his head onto the paper through the pen.  He had always liked writing in pen, feeling the tool leave its mark as it was pushed across the paper.  Keyboards of computers were fine for reports and a quick e-mail, but for what he was up to now he was glad Mystique had gotten the cheap little green book.  

            He'd woken up in his nice, warm, soft twin bed at the Brotherhood's latest "compound" and found the book lying next to his bed.  He'd never expected heaven to be a 3 story stone house in Canada, and he never expected to get into heaven, but all the signs pointed to paradise.  Then Magneto had appeared glass in hand.  "Glad to see you're awake Mr. Pyro."  The older man gave the glass to the boy.  The substance inside was a mixture like milk and oatmeal.  He was actually familiar with the beige nutrient drink.  He could remember Dr. Gray insisting that he finish the whole glass as he sat on an exam bed getting his initial physical when he arrived at Xavier's School.  He'd been a runaway for a long time before that and couldn't remember the last time he'd had a real meal.  As soon as that admission had been made the red headed doctor had thrust the glass at him.

            "I'm alive?" John had asked the newly arrived supervillian weakly.

            "Yes my dear boy, you're alive."  Pyro had smiled and sunk back into the bed.  For a couple of days that was really all he could manage.  But, by the third day he was feeling better and had begun filling the notebook.  It was the beginning of a novel, a tale of secrets and love, and probably blood and death.  "Write what you know" he'd mused as the idea for what to do with the notebook came to him.  

            It was kind of nice Mystique had made enough observations and spent enough time on him to know a notebook and pen could take his mind off the pain and boredom of recovery for hours, days even.  It made him wonder if someone would have done the same back at Xavier's.  Did anyone even know he liked writing there?  He paused, thinking.   Marie did, they'd talked about it in one of their friendly chats in the rec room.  There had been so many, all late at night when neither could sleep and no one else seemed to be around.  They would both just find each other in the rec room, not planned, but whenever either of them needed a friend to talk to, the other was already downstairs waiting.  

            John's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

            "Come in" It was Magneto.  The older man was holding another glass of oatmeal milk and a folded up piece of paper.  His expression was as vague and unreadable as always.  Magneto didn't show an overt amount of compassion, but it was clear he cared about the plight of his teammates.  He distanced himself because he was the leader, but John could tell he cared about all the members of the Brotherhood.

            "I have some things for you Pyro."

            "What?"

            "Drink this first." He extended the drink.  John rolled his eyes.

            "More of this?  When can I eat real food again man?"

            "Tonight, if there are no complications.  You should be able to handle something more substantial."   John tilted his head back and finished off the glass' contents.   He'd been feeling much stronger and wanted to get on with this convalescence.  He surmised it couldn't be too much longer before he was back to his old self.  He'd been up writing for most of the day, and the pain wasn't too bad.  It wasn't too bad as long as he didn't move much.  Redirecting his attention he handed the glass back to Magneto and fixed an expectant gaze on the folded up piece of paper.  

            The older man actually smiled and chuckled warmly.  "All right, I suppose you're well enough for me to fulfill my promise."  Pyro just looked confused.  Magneto had made a promise about him?  "When we liberated you from those small minded humans" Magneto could see the young man tense a little.  He was no doubt being assaulted by a slideshow of horrors in his head.  Images of what had been done to him accosting him as Magneto spoke "we worked with the X-men.  One of them asked me to give this to you."  He handed the paper to Pyro, nodded and left him alone with the note.  

            Oh God, the X-men.  Wait, Marie!  Crap, he was in a mess.  What the hell had he written on that menu?  When he wrote that letter he'd been expecting to die.  It had been an almost delirious state he'd written in.  He'd been delirious enough to think Marie wouldn't sneer at even the mention of the traitor Pyro's name.  He'd though she would care what he thought as he lay dying.  Here in the cold clear state of reality the foolishness of the idea hit him hard.  It was like a punch in the gut, and he still had those broken ribs.

            He couldn't remember much of what he'd said.  It was probably stupid and incoherent.  He groaned to himself.  What were the chances that Marie would have been anywhere near Canada?  At the FOH house?  What were the chances she'd get that crumpled up menu?  Chances were slim, could have made you a fortune in Vegas, because she'd gotten it.  She'd gotten it and written a response.

            It was probably a note saying she only saw his as a friend; that she was madly in love with Bobby.  Heck, that would be the best case scenario.  Something big had happened to him in Boston, then he'd left them.  Rogue had watched him walk off that jet into the snow; walk out of their lives and into the arms of their enemy.  He's walked willingly because that's where his beliefs lay.  She probably hated him.  Furious that he would even try to communicate with her like nothing had happened!   This note could very well be filled with a hurricane of anger, betrayal, and hatred.

            To read she hated him would be worse than all the FOH had put him through.  He'd connected with Rogue in a good, healthy way he couldn't have expected.  Before her he really didn't think he was even capable of what Rogue brought out in him.  Before her he'd just been another messed up person no one gave the time of day to. He hid the changes, tried to keep up his act, but they were still there. Inside, he was different because of Marie.

            But he had to know what she'd written, whatever it said.  For all the good she had done for him she deserved to have her message read, even knowing chances favored the words ripping out his heart.   He unfolded the paper slowly, read the short message and let his jaw drop.  

_But, you should know that I feel the same way for you as you do for me._

_            I love you John Allerdyce._

            He was suddenly numb with shock.  "_I love you" No one had ever said they loved him.  In his whole life he could never remember hearing that simple phrase.  He'd had a real crappy family, a series of foster parents that kept returning him to social services like he was an ugly Christmas sweater, then he'd been on his own.  It had been quite a while before Xavier's troops marched in to pick the firebug off the streets.  No one said they loved you in those places.  _

            The whole idea was overwhelming to him.  He hadn't really allowed for the idea Marie might care for him as more than a friend since the week after the Liberty Island thing.  It was more than he could have hoped for.  He was so excited!  It was amazing!  He felt like jumping out of bed and dancing.  Of course he defiantly didn't have the strength for that.  Instead he picked up his notebook and began writing like a mad man.  Out of him flowed the most beautiful love scene he'd ever written.  All the things he felt flowed out through the pen onto the blank white pages.  Everything, all the happiness and wonder that he felt jumped into his story.  

            He wrote steadily until Mystique appeared in the doorway carrying a tray.  A bowl of soup sat steaming in its center.  "I hear you want to eat some real food."  John looked up from where he was writing on the back cover of the notebook.  Glancing around, a little confused, he realized hours had passed while he wrote.  He smiled at Mystique and her food.

            "Yeah, I am so sick of that goop".  She looked at him with raised eyebrow.   Pyro was not a big smiler.  He was a kid that had some tough breaks and developed a thick skin because of it.  She'd seen that look in people more than enough to recognize it in Pyro.  He didn't look at you with giddy smiles.  She spotted the folded up note and sat down on the bed in front of it.  Holding the tray in one hand she adjusted the blankets and moved the notebook and pens before setting the tray down.  John didn't notice she'd pick up his note; he was too focused on the first real, solid food he'd gotten in days.  It only took a moment to read Marie's short note.  Aww, little Mr. Pyro was in love.  In love with an X-man, talk about shooting yourself in the foot.  They were the enemy; the most they could possibly get from each other was a battle where both made it out Okay.  

            "Enjoy" she smiled as she left.  Having Pyro around had been making her do unusually maternal things.  She found herself walking down the stairs, changing into a random middle aged Asian man.  She walked out the door and down the street, towards the corner drug store.  She was going to buy Pyro another $0.75 notebook.   It surprised her, the interest she'd taken in the young man.  

            The drugstore was close; they'd started building them every 20 feet so that wasn't surprising.  She smiled a little at the teenage clerk and headed down the appropriate aisle.  She'd seen Pyro writing before he'd gotten hurt.  Every so often she'd pass by and he'd be typing away with barely a pause between the clicks of his keyboard.  She picked up a handful of notebooks; green, red, purple, yellow, blue, black, one of each color.  That should be enough to keep him occupied.  

            She blamed this nurturing junk on being a woman.  She was a blue, scaly mutant, but still a woman. When they'd found Toad he'd been in much worse shape than Pyro.  Badly burned, nearly drowned he'd managed to get himself back to the hideout.  When Mystique had arrived after her hospital breakout she'd barely recognized him.  She'd babied him like she was doing now for the fire manipulator.  She'd brought Mortimer soup until he could get out of bed, made sure her duties as Senator Kelly didn't keep her away from him too long, it was a womanly curse.

            Placing her items on the counter the teen looked up from her book and stopped twirling her hair long enough to push a couple of buttons on the cash register.  "Total is $4.77" Mystique smiled and handed over a $5.  

Oblivious to the friendly gesture the girl hit a couple more buttons and the drawer sprung open.  "23 cents is your change, have a nice day" the clerk deadpanned as she handed over the dimes and pennies.  As soon as the change left her hand she was reading again.  The cover of the drivel featured a muscular man clutching a petite raven haired individual to bare his chest as they stood on the deck of a ship, the wind blowing back the long hair they both had in a most sexy way.  It was a typical trashy romance novel.   Mystique had never gone for the genre, but, to each their own.  Mystique gathered up her books and headed for the door.  

It didn't take long to get back to the base.  When she arrived at Pyro's room he was just finishing the soup.  She pulled out the purple notebook and handed it to the boy.  "Looks like you needed another one" she commented, gesturing to the full book on the bed.

"I kinda got inspired" he laid the original book by the foot of the bed and started to work filling the new book.  He wasn't paying attention when Mystique scooped up the book on her way out the door.  She couldn't say why she did it, mainly she was just curious.  Taking the notebook back to her room she lounged on her bed and opened it.

            Mystique had never read anything Pyro had written.  Despite being the main patron to his art she hadn't read any to know if he was good or not.  It really didn't matter what he wrote, just the act seemed to be a kind of therapy for him.  So she wasn't expecting much when she picked up that first yellow notebook.  Two pages in she was utterly floored.  It was great!  Eloquent and captivating the characters were vivid, complex beings.  She hadn't expected writing like that from the angry young Pyro.  

            She read on, entranced by the budding romance, tangled up in duty and honor.  Duty and honor were main themes in a story created by Pyro?  She just couldn't put it down, it was certainly more interesting than the last piece of fiction she'd found time to read.  Without an intentional thought it became a pattern over the next few days, he'd fill up a book, she'd sneak it away, read it, and sneak it back.

            It was clear he was in love.  It was even hard to believe he could be that passionate for someone he'd probably never even touched.  The woman that so inspired him was his enemy.  She was mainly seen across a battlefield when he saw her at all.  He'd left the X-men mansion months ago, but fire still burned.  She laughed at the incredibly lame pun her mind had just made.  She read his story and just couldn't bear to deny him a chance to actually be with the woman he loved.  In his novel the man was a gypsy, separated from his love when his band is driven out of town.  He can't change who he is, and is honor bound to stay with his family, to forever be kept form his beloved.  They love each other so much, but are forced to rely on quick visits, hidden under the cover of darkness.  It was tragic.

            Mystique had an idea.  She pulled out a piece of paper and started writing.


	2. Chapter 2

Title:  A Real Life Dream

By: X

X0832001@yahoo.com

PG-13

Disclaimer:  I own nothing, I am getting no money

Chapter 2

Marie lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.  She couldn't really describe how she felt.  She was lonely.  She had her friends.  She had Jubilee and Kitty to talk about girly things and go shopping.  She had Bobby for the guy perspective and her frustration with her mutation.  She had adults who cared about her too.  Logan would protect her; keep her safe no matter the situation.  The professor was always there with advice and guidance.  He was working with her on her mutation, always trying new methods of control.  He gave her hope that one day they'd find one that worked, that she could touch.  But she was still lonely.

            Despite everyone in her life someone was still missing.  A connection had been unplugged, she missed John.  Even before she'd found the first letter in his closet she'd felt this loss without him.  It hadn't been a sense of loss like after her mutation developed and she lost all her friends back in Meridian.  It was different; John hadn't been just another friend.

            She wanted John, it was so frustrating.  She wanted him, he wanted her.  A stupid difference of opinion was what was keeping them apart.  One different viewpoint made them go out and try and stop each other.  It made both of them go home scratched and bruised, maybe worse.  They were on opposite sides of a difference of opinion that was rapidly becoming the grounds of a war between humans and mutants.  If the war came she was going to be on the side with the humans that hated them, and John was going to be with the mutants, trying to get rid of those people.  It was a miserable no win situation.

            "Mail call chicas" Jubilee called, smiling widely.  Marie rolled her eyes.  Across the room Kitty lay on her own bed.  Did they really need this daily ceremony? Kitty got mail from her parents all the time.  Jubilee was an orphan, everyone that meant something to her was here at the mansion.  Rogue had written her parents once she'd gotten settled at Xavier's; but she'd never gotten a response.  The only mail she ever got was an occasional credit card application or catalog.  But it was more than Jubilee got.  Jubes was thankfully too young for credit.  When that changed the room was going to be buried by offers for the mall rat.  Until then, there was need for Jubilee to go through this joyful mail distribution ceremony.  

            Needless to say Marie was shocked when a white envelope fluttered past her eyes and landed on her stomach.  It was a small white letter envelope.  Marie could count the number of letters she'd received on one hand of a clumsy carpenter.  She ripped open the envelope without hesitation and unfolded her letter.  She immediately recognized the neat, curvaceous writing as feminine.  Wondering what woman was writing her a letter she scanned down to the bottom of the page.  

It was from Mystique.  Marie could feel the breath freeze in her lungs.  Why would Mystique write her a letter?  Was it about John?  The image of his abused body slung over Sabertooth's shoulder assaulted her mind.  He'd been so still; looked so dead.  Magneto had said he'd live, but Magneto wasn't a doctor.  He could have taken a bad turn.  She couldn't breathe; it was like she'd been punched in the stomach.  The image was frozen in her mind and wouldn't change.  Tears filled her eyes and Marie bolted to the bathroom.  She couldn't try and explain the flood of tears that would come if something had happened to John.  An optimistic voice tried to assure her she shouldn't jump to conclusions; she hadn't even read what the letter said yet.  But that voice was having serious trouble being heard over the logical reasoning that Mystique was the enemy, she wasn't going to drop a line just to find out how Marie was doing at school.

She settled herself on the counter next to the sink.  That retched image; John swollen, oozing fresh blood as the dried version flaked from sick colored skin, refused to budge from her mind until she found out for sure what the letter said.  With a deep, steadying breath she began to actually read what the shape shifter had written.

_Rogue,_

_            I know about the note you've asked Magneto to give Pyro.  Call me a romantic but love is a beautiful thing.  While we may disagree on many levels on many topics, I don't hate other mutants.  I don't begrudge you any happiness.  I learned of your situation and am providing you with information you may find useful._

_            You should know, the 16th of this month Magneto, Sabertooth and I will be away all day.  Pyro will be alone at our current base, still located in the same Canadian city, number 246 on __Regent Street__.  This information is for you alone.  It is not meant to bring an attack from your X-men.  It's for the sake of Pyro and yourself.  I am giving you one day.  We ship out the 17th.  If you want time with the man you claim to love I've arranged the opportunity._

_            I don't suspect you'll throw away this chance; there won't be action from your teammates.  Though I warn you, if I am wrong and your X-men descend upon this vulnerable young man, the retribution will be swift and devastating.  I'm giving you a day, use it wisely._

_                                    Mystique_

            The letter was brief, to the point, but Marie re-read it three times before she understood what it said.  She let out the breath she'd been holding after the first read through.  She'd described him as vulnerable but John was fine, not dead.  She read again and had to re-read the third time to be sure what she thought was actually true.  She was going to be able to see John!  She was going to see him in person, not across a battlefield or as he was laid in a car.  Marie was going to be in the same room with him and able to talk.

            Then a wave of anxiety hit her. They were going to talk.  What would she say?  She took a deep breath.  Her head swam.  She was nervous and excited, anxious and ecstatic.  It was a weird bubbly feeling in her stomach.  She popped down off the counter.  Staying in the bathroom wasn't an option.  Already she was going to need an excuse as to why she'd run in there, and what her letter had said.  She clearly couldn't tell the truth.  Even if Kitty and Jubilee didn't tell the others they would try and talk her out of going.

            Rogue hated listening to all the John bashing.  Right after he'd left it had been the worse.  Marie hadn't participated, but she could understand their initial reaction.  They didn't know John like she did.  She knew what had happened in his life that made him choose the Brotherhood.  He'd tried living with Xavier and believing the message of peace but it never stuck.  Humans had treated him like scum, made him feel helpless for too long.  He'd assumed a roll at the school, had his act, but wasn't like the rest of them.

            When he was gone the "bad seed", "good riddance" muttering began.  Rogue disagreed with all of it but understood they were just upset.  But once the X-men began fighting the Brotherhood, complete with its new member, the things they said about John became vicious.  These people had barely known John and they were ripping him apart.  Those that did know him were more like Bobby, sad and confused.  That's part of why Bobby kept that memorial to John until he was ordered to remove it, as a sign he wasn't on the bandwagon, that he didn't hate John.  Rogue really respected Bobby for the strength of his friendship to John.  She wondered if she could tell him about this secret rendezvous.  Maybe after it was over

            She didn't have too much time to waste.  The 16th was in just a few days.  She strode into her room, ignoring the looks from her roommates.  She jumped onto her computer, quickly finding what she needed.  Without the X-jet it was going to take at least 3 whole days to get there. The site claimed it was a 48 hour drive, not stopping for anything.  She zoomed out on the little map that was being displayed and realized she had to get all the way across the country.  It's no time at all by jet, but she doubted she could come up with a plausible excuse why she should be allowed to take the jet, alone, and without saying where or why she was going.   

            The 16th was Thursday, today was Monday. She had to leave, immediately.  She jumped up from her chair and grabbed her book bag.  Shoving in a shirt and heading back to the bathroom for her toothbrush she was blocked by Jubilee.  "What is going on with you?"

            "I gotta go" Pulling a very cheap trick she announced, "My Grandma died, I need to get back for the funeral." Jubilee immediately stepped aside; a grandparent's funeral was serious.  Marie threw in the toothbrush, toothpaste, makeup bag, and hairbrush.  That was really all she needed.  Suddenly remembering her last run away experience she crammed a little blanket into the bag as well.  Canada was a cold place.  Turning back to Jubilee she asked, "Can you tell the Professor for me"

            "Oh yeah sweetie, anything else you need us to do?"  Marie felt bad lying to them, and when she was inevitably caught by this rushed series of lies she had no idea what she'd tell them.  But she just didn't have time now.  This was her one shot to see John.  "No, that should do it."  With that she was out in the garage, throwing her backpack into the back seat of the car.  Jumping into the driver's seat she roughly pulled down the sun visor in search of the keys.  Everything seemed to take entirely too long when she was this rushed.  With the shiny metal in hand she gave a twist and brought the car to life.  It started now.  Regardless of what trouble she'd be in when she got back it was worth it.  

It was one of the most boring road trips in history.  Absolutely nothing happened.  She didn't get lost, she didn't encounter anyone interesting, she spent the whole time in the car, alone.  She had had plenty of time to think.  She thought about a lot of things, mostly John.  She reminisced about their late night talks, the times Bobby had cancelled and they wound up just hanging out with each other.  It was funny she was nervous now because he always made her so comfortable.  

            It was an excited nervous though.  Not like an "I so need to pass this math test" nervous, more like a "What do I say?" kind of nervous.  She put the car in park and officially ended her journey.  The address Mystique had specified was 4 houses down.  She got out of the car and made her way down the street, her anxious mind flying through scenario after scenario of what she would find at the house.

            Marie turned the knob and pushed.  The door easily moved aside and gave her entry into the enemy's lair.  The letter could have been a trap, trying to get her alone and vulnerable as part of some complex plan.  It had happened before, with these very same players.  But for some reason the total ease of the situation made her worry for John instead of herself.  One of the Friends of Humanity could have walked right in and done God knows what.

            The house looked like a normal 3 story suburban dwelling.  Inside was a bit more chaotic than your average upper middle class home.  Stairs to the right, the entry led to a kitchen.  Off of the entry hall was the living room.  The living room did betray this wasn't a family home.  Maps decorating the walls instead of art, computers surrounded the couch and the coffee table was actually large and high enough to have been moved in from the dining room.  It was clearly a base of operations.  Proceeding to the kitchen she froze in the doorway.  She'd assumed since he was recovering he'd be in bed, upstairs.  She'd wanted to look around and get prepared before she saw him.  After 3 days in a car, only stopping when the gas tank was on fumes and again late last night when she simple couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, she was a road weary mess.  But there he was.

            John, clad in T-shirt and sweat pants, was sitting at a rickety kitchen table eating a bowl of Corn Flakes.  "John" she whispered, unable to say anymore than that.  The spoon hit the bottom of the bowl with a clang.

            "Marie!  What are you doing here?"  He was on his feet and next to her in an instant.  She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer.  He successfully covered a wince at the sudden movement.  Mystique had suggested he get moving again, as they were leaving just after midnight, but this was the first he'd been out of bed in days.  

            "God, Johnny…" she hugged him tighter and buried her face in his cloth covered shoulder.  Being so close she felt him tense in pain.  Without thinking she pulled back, grabbed the hem of his T-shirt and pulled it up.  Bandages were wrapped around his ribs and bruises added a rainbow to normally healthy colored skin.  "What did they do to you?" she cooed, tears welling up involuntarily.

            John only pulled her close again, ignoring the pain and pressing his face to her hair.  Considering the damage to his ribs he should have been screaming.  But, this close to Marie, having her in his arms, he couldn't feel anything but happy.  "I can't believe you're here." He mumbled.  A familiar scent hit his nose.   "You've been smoking"

            She pulled back to look at his face.  "It's your fault"

            "Mine?"

            "You get me all confused"

            "The letter?  I'd apologize for that muddled death bed confession, but it brought you here so…" he drifted away from his thought towards the concrete fact that his confession of love did not tell her where he had been staying, or that Magneto would be gone today.  "How did you know to come here today?"

            Marie smiled. "Mystique sent me a letter telling me it was safe to come.  I couldn't believe she'd do something like that."

            Now it was John's turn to smile.  Suddenly the slightly unusual morning made sense.  "That explains why she was so insistent that they get an early start.  You should have seen the way she bullied Sabertooth into hurrying along."

            "I started driving as soon as I got her letter so I could make it in time."

            "You drove here?"

            "Three days" He hugged her close again.  She had spent three days driving alone in a car just to see him for one day.  He couldn't believe someone would care enough to do that for him. 

            "You're amazing"

            "You're worth it"


	3. Chapter 3

Title:  A Real Life Dream

By: X

X0832001@yahoo.com

PG-13

Disclaimer:  I own nothing, I am getting no money

Chapter 3

They reluctantly parted and sat down at the table.  They talked, they laughed.  It was just like it had been before.  They easily fell back to the friendship they shared.  They weren't enemies, it didn't matter what side of the war they were on.  They weren't Rogue and Pyro, just Marie and John.      

            The front door opened and a rumble of activity made Rogue jump up from the rickety table.  Toad strolled into the kitchen focused on the fridge.  He opened the door and began rooting for something.  "Hey mate, who's your Sheila?" the Englishman asked with a poor imitation of a thick Australian accent.

"Bloody 'ell Toad, I left Sydney when I was seven.  I'm not t' bleedn' Croc 'unter" retorted John in an equally bad mockery of Toad's homeland.  They were both smiling, no anger in the often repeated exchange.  Toad grabbed something and turned around, coming face to face with the love birds.  Reverting back to his own York colored inflection he smiled, "Oh, I know her, one of dem X-men."  Rouge felt the blood drain from her face.  "Crickey mate, tell her to calm down."  He threw the apple into the air and caught it with his long sticky tongue. With a nod he headed back out of the kitchen and up the stairs.  

            "Toad is alive?"

            "Yeah, still off active duty from the Liberty Island thing.  Storm scorched him pretty good.  He tends to wear out a little too fast for your average mission."

            "Is he going to tell people I was here?  Will you get in trouble?" she was worried about what an angry Magneto might do to an already weakened John.  He'd mentioned Liberty Island, which was surely an example of why one didn't go against the Master of Magnetism.  

            "Nah, Toad's cool" Marie still looked worried.  He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pulled her close.  He kissed her, pulling back when he felt the drain.  Immediately he pressed his lips to hers again, she kissed back passionately.   John was unusually resistant to her powers.  Sure she could drain him; she'd done so back in Boston. But John should have passed out cold with how much she pulled out of him.  All he did was bend to his knees.  He even stayed conscious.  

            So they kissed.  Marie was in heaven.  John pulled back, shook his head to clear it and happily started another kiss.  He couldn't believe it was a wonderful reality.  Any minute he expected to wake up.  He pulled back and a moment later reestablished contact with his lips on her throat.  She moaned happily and pressed closer to him.  No dream could be this good.  He broke contact again and shook his head.  The movement put him off balance and he stumbled.  "We better take a time out." Marie smiled as she guided him to the room off the other side of the kitchen, there was a couch in there they could rest on.  

            It was kind of weird; the Brotherhood's base wasn't what she'd expected.  It reminded her a lot of her own home at Xavier's.  It was stupid, but she'd expected John to be surrounded by their evil enemies, good but manipulated by circumstances into thinking he was bad.  The other mutants would laugh sinisterly, rub their hands together, and plot ways to kill humans.  But it wasn't like that.  Toad and John were friends.  They had some inside joke going about accents.  Mystique actually cared about John, she wanted him happy.  

            They lay on the couch, happily leaning against each other.  Both had on enough clothes, touching wasn't a problem.  They just lounged there, happy just being together.

            "I've missed you so much."

            "I know, it's like a big weight around my neck."

            "A simile, you're so artistic."  John laughed at her comment.  Pyro, the mutant terrorist, was artistic.  

Growing serious he asked, "Do you feel this ache when I'm on the other side of a fight?"

"Every time; it's a pain in the bottom of my stomach.  I don't want you hurt. I don't want my teammates hurt."

"Sucks to be us"

They sat in silence for a moment after the succinct statement.  Then Marie broke that with, "Quit"

"I can't quit" he whispered.

            "Why not?  Quit and rejoin the X-men.  Then we can be together."

            "One, I don't want to be an X-man.  I really do believe that the humans are going to try and crush us.  I 'm going to do everything I can to prevent that."  Before Marie could disagree he continued.  "And two, you don't leave the Brotherhood."

            "You left the X-men"

            "Magneto is not Xavier.  I wasn't even one of the X-men, just a kid at the school.  But now, what I know isn't getting out of the organization."

            "So you're trapped here?"

            "It's kind of a voluntary entrapment."

            She leaned against him, gently resting her head against his chest.  His heart pounded a steady lub-dub rhythm.  "So that's where we are?" she sighed.  She couldn't make him abandoned his life, she wouldn't want to.  She was embarrassed by her order to "Quit".  He couldn't up and abandon the life he'd made for himself anymore than she could just leave hers.  So they were stuck in this miserable situation.  They were so close, but a big clear wall had been put up between them.  She wanted to cry in frustration.

            He looked down into her eyes.  His chest ached at the sadness he saw there, he just couldn't stand it.  He took a deep breath, "No."  She returned the solid statement with a skeptical raised eyebrow.  "I love you Marie.  I'll do whatever it takes so we can be together."

            "But Magneto…what will he do to you?"

            "Maybe nothing; maybe he'll let me step back."

            "And if not…"

            "I will do whatever it takes Marie.  It'll probably take some time, but we're going to be happy."  She smiled at this.

            They spent the rest of the day in each other's arms.  Toad stayed in his room.  Magneto and Xavier did not get mentioned again.  John and Marie excluded Pyro and Rouge, and just enjoyed being with each other.  It was the best day either had experienced in quite some time.

            Later, Mystique called asking if John wanted any Chinese food since they were stopping on their way home.  They'd be back in twenty minutes.  Knowing the truth it was a pretty thinly veiled excuse to say when they'd be back.  But the oblivious Magneto and Sabertooth had no reason to be suspicious.  It was a tearful goodbye, filled with uncertainty.  They kissed.  It was a slow lingering kiss that made both weak in the knees.  

            Marie ran to the car, tears already running down her cheeks.  John's eyes were glassy with unshed tears.  Toad, the pervert who'd been watching from the stairs even had to hold back a sniffle.  He'd had every intention of teasing Pyro some more, but the whole goodbye had just been too sad.  Life was so unfair.

            A few days later Pyro was lying on his bed in the new compound.  His eyes were closed and 2 notebooks lay beside him.

            "Finish your story?"  His dark eyes popped open.  Mystique was in his room, standing over him.

            "Yeah, I did" he looked at her curiously.  "Did you need something Mystique?"

            "I want to read the end of your story; the suspense is driving me nuts."

            "You've been reading my story?" he rolled off the bed onto his feet.  He was angry that his privacy had been invaded.  Sure the story was obviously fiction, but the feelings behind the characters were his own.  It was a little like she'd read his diary, of coarse John didn't keep a diary.  But more than angry he was confused.  Why would Mystique want to read some romance novel-esq story he'd written?  If she just wanted a book there were plenty around, written by actual authors.  She could have brought a trashy romance novel at the drug store where she got the notebooks.  There was no reason to wait for the next installment of what he was doing.

            "Why?"

            "You're good John, really good."  He was shocked, not just because it was the first time he could recall her using his real name.  But the idea that he was good was so weird.  He wrote because he liked to, he liked making up stories, he liked reading what he wrote.  But he'd never really shown anyone else anything he'd written unless you count school projects or the occasion letter like the one he'd written Marie.  

            "You liked it?"

            "You've got talent."  She picked up the last two notebooks and took them back to her room.  This time he knew full well she had them, but she didn't care.  Deception like this was pointless.  He was good and he should know it.  With that established she left John alone with his thoughts.

He typed, he revised, and he tweaked his manuscript for about a month.  Mystique watched him doing this, curious.  Magneto had deemed him ready to work again so his literary project filled his time back at the base between jobs.  After the month he presented a thick stack of paper to Mystique.

            "Will you read it for me?"  She gave him a look.

            "What are you up to kid?"

            "I wanna step back from this, be with Marie.  If I can make a living doing this writing thing, I'll still have time for the Brotherhood, and be able to have a normal life with Marie."  It really was sweet, that same womanly part that cared when he got hurt was touched by his goal.  She smiled and nodded, taking the pile with her as she headed for her room.  Getting published was hard.  A man getting published in the romance genre was hard.  Convincing Magneto to let you leave to be with the enemy you loved wouldn't be as hard as John thought.  Erik was a little soft when it came to young mutants in love.  But even so, it was quite an undertaking John had begun.  The least she could do was make sure he used commas and that his verbs agreed.

Marie was lying on her bed.  Her grounding was over but she really had no need to be anywhere else.  It hadn't taken long for her lie to be discovered.  One didn't bring a blanket to Mississippi this time of year.  But respecting her privacy Xavier hadn't pried.  She refused to say where she went, and accepted her punishment.  She was off X-missions for three months and had been grounded for two.  It was a little weird to be grounded at her age, but she'd kind of expected it.  

Kitty and Jubilee had refused to speak to her for 4 days, and since she was stuck in her room that had wound up pretty awkward.  Luckily for that situation as teenage girls Jubilee and Kitty soon realized it was about a boy, and different rules applied to such situations.  Marie was still wrong, but it was understandable and the four days were enough punishment.  The two had done their best to find out who the mystery man was, but all attempts were futile.  So, they continued to refer to him as "Mr. Mystery" and only pestered her occasionally about his identity.

"You've got mail" announced Kitty happily as she appeared at the door.  Marie looked up.  She and John had been writing secretly since the day in Canada.  John used fake return addresses and a PO Box so it was a slow system, but it kept them in contact.  She missed him, and missed him more than ever when she read his letters, but it prevented that horrible ache of secretly loving him from afar.  Since she was off X-missions for another three days she hadn't even gotten to see him as an enemy minion.  She wasn't too upset by that since those situations were even worse than not seeing him at all. 

It was usually when the letters arrived that the onslaught of "Why won't you just tell us who he is" would begin.  But in Kitty's hand wasn't a letter, it was a package.  She knew this was going to make more urgent demands.  She might actually have to tell them after this.    Requiring privacy she took the package from Kitty and shut herself in the bathroom.  Tearing off the brown paper she found she held a book.

_Lines Blurred _was the title, written in shiny gold metallic embossing.  Under that was "By: St. John Allerdyce".  Marie nearly dropped the book.  There was a note.

_Marie,  _

_It's an advanced copy of my book.  I did it; I'm starting a normal life we can share.  I'm a novelist.  I've gotten an apartment; a writer needs a steady place to get mail delivered to.  If you want, you can join me here.  _

_We'll work out whatever we need to.  I'm not demanding you quit the X-men.  I just want to have a place where we can go and be together, where our ideas on humans and mutants don't matter.  I want to wake up and have you near me, I want to close my eyes at night and know you're safe, that you're right beside me.  And I want the time in between these activities to show you just how wonderful you make me feel. _

_I know we're still young, that we have all our lives ahead of us and there's no need to rush into anything.  But, I hate being apart.  The roads we are on are separate and only take us farther apart from each other.  We really don't know what will happen in the future, the future of mutants remains hazy.  So I don't want to spend any more time feeling as I have the last two years.  _

_I love you._

_                                                John_

            Marie was grinning from ear to ear as she left the bathroom.  "What did Mr. Mystery send?" Kitty demanded, trying to sound angry but clearly happy to see Rogue happy.  It was time.  She was going to put everything out in the open.  It didn't matter now, if they made a fuss or disowned her for her love of a traitor.  She and John were going to have a life together, a nice normal life.

            She held out the book.  Confused Kitty took it from her hand and read the cover.  She looked up at Rogue still not understanding the significance.  It took about 15 seconds, a long time in this sort of situation, for her to remember John's real name.  She hadn't really thought of him as John in so long.  Since he'd defected he had really just become Pyro.  But his actual given name was St. John Allerdyce.  

            Her mouth dropped open and hung there.  Jubilee rushed over and read the cover of the book that was leaving everyone speechless.  She recognized the name, "Pyro!"  Then a moment later she put 2 and 2 together and vocalized the thought that was on the tip of everyone's tongue.  They just weren't sure they wanted it out loud.  "Your mystery man is Pyro, John" she quickly corrected.  Rogue was dating John, not the Brotherhood super villain.

            "Yeah, Ah'm in love with him."  She braced herself for the yelling, being called an idiot and the warnings that were sure to follow.  But her two best gal pals did nothing of the sort.

            "Awww, that's so cute.  You're in love" Cooed Jubilee. Rogue was confused.

            "You're OK with this?"

            "Girl, we totally knew"

Rogue was floored, "you knew?"

"We saw that letter he wrote you.  You tried to play it off like no big deal, but come on!"  Kitty chuckled.  

Jubilee jumped in, "I know that was like pre Bobby break up and all, but you could tell."

"I'm that transparent?"

"No, no, not at all.  It's just that we know you… and…" Jubilee faded and the more articulate Kitty took over.

"We weren't totally sure, we just had the idea, you know like a shadow in the back of our minds.  Then you did the whole disappearance thing, then the super mopey grounded thing, we could tell it was pretty serious."

"Does Xavier know?"

"Who knows, he's like an all seeing Yoda guy."

"Want to come with me when I tell him I'm moving out to go live with John?"

"No dear, you've made your bed and now you have to lie in it."

"With Pyro" added a giggling Jubilee. 


End file.
